Song of the chapter: Bittersweet by Super Junior

[Flashback; Jongsuk’s POV]

It was the first day of school of the third week and students bustling in Seoul High’s Private Institution’s corridor. Everyone greeted each other as usual and I was too, quiet as usual. Getting to class was hard. 758 students of all ages, gender and nationalities (we do have foreigners studying here too) were cramped in the hallway, shoving themselves into respective classes and it was deafening.

I sat at my table at the far corner of my homeroom and took out my Trig workbook out which I left in my locker. I had to complete the homework given my Trig teacher Mrs. Dong. I glanced at my white Nike wrist watch. Three hours till Trigonometry. I’ll manage to finish it on time.

I was so oblivious doing my homework until the noises was cut off into low whispers. I look up and saw our English teacher, Mr. Roberts, standing on the podium. Loud high-pitched sound of seats being pulled and when everybody had settled, everyone turned their attention at the stern-looking Englishman.

“Good morning, Mr. Roberts,” we greeted the 53-years-old man in unison.

He cleared his throat. “Good morning,” he said in a thick English accent. I believe that he can’t even speak Korean, but if he did, no one would understand what he tried to say. “I will take your attendance for today.”

As soon as he said that, my eyes scanned through the room; a mission to find my best buddy, Kim Woobin. He had been arriving late to school since last week. He reasoned his alarm clock was broken but reality is his beloved metallic grey Toyota Civic was confiscated by his uncle.

“Mr. Lee Jongsuk,” I heard Mr. Roberts pronounced my name in a thick British accent.

“Y-yes, sir,” I stuttered. I gotta say that Mr. Roberts was the scariest teacher to me because he was the disciplinary teacher.

“It was my third time calling your name.” His blazing grey eyes bore into mine. I felt tiny all of a sudden when the whole class turned to look at me. “Perhaps you haven’t arrived yet, have you, Mr. Lee? Should I mark you as absent or late for today?”

“I’m present, sir.”

He shook his head. Mr. Roberts jotted an ‘O’ which stand for ‘present’ in a column next to my name before getting on with the name list.

“Mr. Kim Woobin.”

Silence filled the room.

“Is Mr. Kim Woobin present or is he absent?” Mr. Roberts questioned the class.

Just then, the homeroom door opened and panting and sweaty Woobin was present. I was glad he made it to school though he was ten minutes late.

“You are late, Mr. Kim.” Mr. Robert’s voice scares Woobin. Actually, the sight of Mr. Robert’s shadow scares him, anyway. “What is your reason?”

“I’m so sorry,” Woobin spoke, gasping for air. “My alarm had been broken for a week now and I haven’t gotten a new alarm clock because I haven’t received my allowance. I will buy a new and longer-lasting clock when I get my allowance from my parents, I promise!”

Woobin’s parents and younger sister left for Singapore mid last year. Woobin’s father was the CEO of a construction company and they had to live there for at least three years. Woobin persuaded his step-dad to let him finish his study in Korea and he (astonishingly) allowed.

Mr. Roberts rolled his eyes in dismay. “At least you are slightly better than your best mate over there. I had to call his name three times before he reacts,” Mr. Roberts embarrass me to the class.

Once again, a sea of eyes started at me. They weren’t laughing or grinning… they had this I wonder who he is kind of look. It was creepy. For the second time, I felt like I’m shrinking into a microbe.

“Be seated,” he told Woobin boringly while Woobin pulled his chair and settled in his seat next to me.

“Psst!” Woobin grinned ear-to-ear. “What did you do exactly that he had to say something about you to the class?”

“Why?”

“Because nobody cares about you,” he said, matter-of-factly.

I shrugged. “I dunno.”

“Okay,” he railed off and turned to a classmate on his right. “What did he do?”

The girl looked up at him. “He was daydreaming.”

I was humiliated. “Didn’t Mr. Robert say that he had to call me three times before I react?” Sometimes, Woobin made me feel irritated. But I can’t say it because he’s the only friend I had.

Woobin cringed. “I thought you were texting with…”

“Hey, hey,” I slapped him at the arm before he could even finish his sentence. “That’s enough.”

“Care to tell?” He grinned again like an idiot. I can’t help but to do the same thing too.

“I was looking for you, you idiot.” I shifted in my seat. “Oh yeah,” I said, thinking of something. I ransacked my black Nike knapsack at took a notebook from a pocket in the bag. “Homework?”

Woobin sighed and took the notebook from my palm.

In midst of jotting down numbers, a female voice appeared in my ear. Far… yet it came from someone who was in the class. I looked up, feeling a little inquisitive. “Sorry for interrupting,” Mrs. Bae, the principle, wrote an English name on the giant blackboard and below it was a Korean name. Who’s Krystal Jung Soojung?

A girl entered our class via the entrance (because there were a number of entrances in this class). Her gaze was on the floor, but judging from the looks, she’s pretty. I assumed that she was the owner of that name written on the blackboard.

“Soojung is a Korean-American transfer student from California and she will be your new classmate. She speaks Korean but you’re welcome to practice your English with her. Help her if she is in need of favor. Understood?” Mrs. Bae waited for our respond.

“Yes, Mrs. Bae,” we said in unison.

I glanced to my left and saw Woobin beamed excitedly over the new girl. This Soojung girl was indeed pretty. I observed her. Soojung’s hair was tied into a high ponytail. It gave me a perfect view of her oval-shaped face. Her watermelon-flavored chapped lips looked supple. This girl outshined the rest of the normal-looking girls in my class.

I actually wondered if she preferred to be called Krystal or Soojung, since both means the same in Korean or English.

While I was marveling at my new classmate’s beauty, I hadn’t realized that my heart’s pace slowed down. I could hear one by one beat of my heart pounding in my chest. For the first time, I was hypnotized by someone so… so goddess-looking like her.

Throughout English, I can’t help but to take a peek at Soojung. I frowned to myself. Why was I so amazed by her when I still haven’t finished my Trig homework?

A paper slid onto my table. Curious of the content, I opened the folded small paper and found Woobin’s clean handwriting. Handwritings aside, I felt like my heart was going to fall out, but this feeling was worse. I wish I could hide somewhere. Dig a hole or something; just to hide my redden face.

Lee Jongsuk was caught staring at the new gal, Soojung and it was obvious. Alas, there was something worse. The worst part is: Soojung and the rest of the class noticed. The second daydream of the day? Tsk.

[5 months later, present day; Jongsuk’s POV]

I kicked the pebbles in the garden of my secret hideout: my own parent’s villa. No one knew I was here.

The sun was going to rise anytime now. Facing it, I thought I would face death or probably would find my humanity, at the very least.

The sky was getting brighter every four minutes.

You would think a vampire would fall into ashes or turn into walking disco ball. Well, that’s Hollywood and that’s bull. Everything’s a total crap.

I felt the warm rays of sunlight on my palm. I was waiting for it to burn or to sparkle, thinking if it would, then I’d belong to Hollywood. Being what humans called a ‘superior creature’, it wouldn’t be easy to get creatures like me killed.

Being introduced to a completely new and heightened life without any guidance, I had to have strong willpower. Though I tried to kill myself in many horrific and nasty ways that came to mind, nothing worked. I still kill but every time I kill, I survived and I took a life away.

If I was so superior, I should be saving lives and not living a dark life. But saving lives and killing them to survive didn’t rhyme together either.

How can a devil become an angel? If there was, it would be another overrated Hollywood BS.